Design Engineer Review

Overall, I enjoyed my time during my placement at Caterpillar. My role involved a lot of design work, which I enjoy. I also got an insight into how a large company functions and how decisions are made when working on projects. As someone who studied Electronics at University, I gained a lot of skills during my placement.

I felt sufficiently valued during my time on the placement. On my first day in the office, I was introduced to all other members of each team who I would end up working with throughout the placement. However, in a large office environment it is easy to become unfamiliar to many people, but I managed to form a group with other students and graduates.

Whenever I needed support during my placement, managers and supervisors were always happy to help as best as they could. Due to the fact that there are many systems and processes which were very new at the start, a lot of help was provided to set me up for the rest of the placement.

I found that my work often came in waves during my placement. When given a project to do, the workload to get that project through to completion was fairly consistent. However, between projects I often found myself picking up smaller jobs from my teammates to try and fill the time between.

I was responsible for a number of projects during my placement, which gave me a good sense of purpose. Following these projects through to completion, such as meeting with other teams to discuss them and presenting them to other engineers also made me feel like I was given responsibility for important tasks.

Overall, I have definitely gained skills that will stay with me for life during this placement. I have gained a number of technical skills, such as familiarity with CAD software and an insight into how a design process works. On top of that, I have also gained a lot of soft skills such as improved communication and a view into how teams can collaborate between one another to form one cohesive unit. I will absolutely be taking these skills with me into the future.

Overall, the atmosphere in the office was generally very 'work' oriented. Whilst there was a healthy amount of socializing between colleagues, personally I would not call the environment particularly 'fun'. However, despite feeling work oriented, the general vibe is quite relaxed and I did not feel overwhelmed at any point during the placement.

There was an initial plan for me to rotate throughout four teams during the placement, and it started with a sufficient amount of training to get me up to speed. I was not able to rotate through all four teams however due to an organizational change, but this did not effect too much; it just meant I did not get an experience in as many teams.

There were a lot of resources available for personal development. Since my work was very CAD oriented, Caterpillar have made sure that there are ample training courses available to people who, like me, would be using the software for the very first time. There are also resources which outline standard working procedures which give an insight into design processes and the do's and don'ts of the role.

Personally I have no issue with the organisation itself, however I would like to be somewhere which is a bit closer to home and with more social connections for me. Overall my experience with the placement is positive and I have been able to gain a lot, however personally I would like somewhere where I can visit friends and family more easily.

During work there was a fairly good social network between fellow students and graduates, however this was nurtured by the fact that we all started at similar times and were all in a similar position. Outside of work, personally, my social life was a little stunted by the fact that I lived quite far from others and I don't own a car.

I'd say the cost of where I lived was above average for the area, as I chose to live in Durham. Sunderland is a cheaper option and would have probably provided a better experience, as the other placement students all decided to live there. Durham is not too expensive, however a lot of funds could have been saved by living in Sunderland.

Durham has very little to offer in terms of a good nightlife. I'm sure it would be good enough if you knew a lot of people in the area, however my housemates throughout the year were not really interested in that kind of stuff. For good nightlife, Newcastle isn't too far but transport back after the night would be a problem.

There were opportunities, however I was not made aware of them during my time at the placement. A lot of the extracurricular events I only found out about through the apprentice who sat next to me in the office, and I felt like since I wasn't invited then I wasn't welcome. There are opportunities, you just have to know where to look for them.